Jeanne Dyches | Iowa State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeanne Dyches

Since its inception 30 years ago, Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) has fundamentally... more Since its inception 30 years ago, Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) has fundamentally altered the landscape of teacher preparation. Despite its prominence in the field, the paradigm fails to delineate a space for the role of social justice in classroom practices and teacher preparation. Accordingly, we complicate the relationship between PCK and equitable teaching practices by forwarding Social Justice Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (SJPACK), a theoretical model segmented into three knowledge domains: Social Justice Knowledge, Social Justice Pedagogical Knowledge, and Social Justice Content Knowledge. Because all instructional maneuvers are politically charged and therefore never neutral, SJPACK advances Social Justice Knowledge as the foundational knowledge domain that permeates and shapes all PCK practices. Consequently, the framework posits that PCK can never be siloed from Social Justice Knowledge. Implications for SJPACK-oriented teacher preparation are discussed

While a wealth of scholarship has investigated White teachers’ abilities to realize the aims of c... more While a wealth of scholarship has investigated White teachers’ abilities to realize the aims of culturally responsive teaching in urban secondary English classrooms, studies that query the canonically-speciﬁc challenges teachers face when attempting to actualize equity-driven instruction are less frequently forwarded. To that end, this ethnographic case study tells the story of Sam Winters, a White teacher of British literature, who negotiated multiple forms of Whiteness— both his own and his required curriculum’s—to effect participatory realities for his urban students. Data, which were collected over ﬁve months, were treated with layers of deductive and inductive codes. Findings reveal obstructions to culturally responsive canonical instruction, such as sociocultural tensions between privileged and marginalized persons and texts, including canonically-speciﬁc incongruences between the curriculum and Sam’s students; fear of punitive fallout and time likewise constrained his efforts. Yet, buttressed by his dialogic classroom community, Sam delivered a canonical counter-curriculum that cultivated students’ sociopolitical consciousness and provided them with multimodal opportunities to restory themselves into and against required British literature texts. Implications, including the transformative powers of implementing canonical counter-curricula, and the value of leveraging teachers’ multi-dimensional sociocultural identities as cultural assets that position them to effect culturally responsive instruction, are discussed.

Because few teacher education programs are truly rooted in the philosophical aims of multicultura... more Because few teacher education programs are truly rooted in the philosophical aims of multicultural and social justice education (Asher, 2007; Banks, 2008; Hayes & Juarez, 2012; Miller, 2014), many pre-service
teachers (PSTs) remain unpracticed—and unable—to teach in culturally responsive ways (Sleeter, 2012). But what structures and forces bear the culpability for the long documented shortcomings of this preparation?
And how can literacy teacher educators honor their commitment to preparing practitioners capable of teaching all children? Here, the author postulates the ways in which teacher education programs’ preference
for niceness functions as an iteration of Whiteness that obstructs attempts to actualize culturally responsive teacher preparation, tending specifically to the complicity of audit culture, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, and curricula and instruction. In an effort to disrupt and ultimately dismantle the culture of niceness, the author offers successful approaches to training PSTs for teaching in culturally responsive ways, including displaying sociocultural vulnerability, modeling and creating opportunities for critical reflection, and collaborating alongside PSTs to craft a transformative curriculum.

An article on my work on culturally responsive disciplinary literacies at Iowa State University. ... more An article on my work on culturally responsive disciplinary literacies at Iowa State University. By Kent Davis.

Studies examining preservice teachers' (PSTs) experiences with microblogging and activities that ... more Studies examining preservice teachers' (PSTs) experiences with microblogging and activities that buttress and promote their social justice development have largely occurred in isolation from one another. To that end, this study examines in what ways pairing the popular social networking website Twitter with readings from a young adult literature course helped PSTs cultivate their awareness of and positionalities related to the social justice issues discussed in the course—and ones they will confront in their classrooms. Although students noted that engaging in this new dialogic space afforded certain benefits, the data suggest that PSTs encountered a variety of obstructions as they worked to develop and articulate their social-justice-oriented positionalities, including difficulty extending in-class conversations and trouble negotiating the social dimensions of Twitter. In examining the intersection between Twitter and its conduciveness to support PSTs' social justice positionalities, the findings suggest that, despite its popularity, the forum did not prove to be an organic medium for students to engage social justice issues. Findings imply that teacher educators interested in utilizing microblogging to foster PSTs' social awareness and growth should utilize Twitter as but one of many pedagogical tools to assist students in developing their social justice positionalities.

Professional development is one of the most pressing and challenging issues in education today. A... more Professional development is one of the most pressing and challenging issues in education today. Action research, which asks individual teachers to focus on a particular issue in their classrooms as means to improve instructional practice (James, Milenkiewicz & Bucknam, 2008), responds to the criticism of fragmented, decontextualized professional development because it provides a learning space in which teachers can learn about their students as well as their own teaching practices. Action research wields the power to bridge the gap between theory and practice, empower teachers, and impact student learning.

Nationwide, virtually all secondary students interact with British literature, a traditionally An... more Nationwide, virtually all secondary students interact with British literature, a traditionally Anglo, white, male canon. Yet, this revered curriculum provides few mirrors for students from historically marginalized populations to see their own cultures reflected. In this reflective practitioner piece, the authors first illustrate how counterstorytelling—a practice emerging from critical race theory—can break open the canon. Because counterstorytelling invites, values, and projects marginalized voices, when incorporated into the secondary English classroom, the practice helps engage students with the material while developing and honing their literacy skills. Second, the authors detail a lesson demonstrating that the canon and counterstorytelling can work synergistically. Throughout the article, the authors attend to the challenges of using an equity pedagogy to teach a canon that functions as the majoritarian story of the secondary literacy classroom—and society at large. Finally, the authors offer strategies for effectively incorporating counterstorytelling into the secondary English classroom.